Starting on September 17, 2011, people affiliated with the "Occupy Wall Street (OWS)" movement began protesting in New York City's financial district. Within weeks, the movement had spread internationally, inspiring "tent cities" where protestors lived and staged marches, group conversations, street theater, music and other public events. Initially the movement was an outcry against corporate and political corruption, greed, unemployment and financial and social inequality, though it grew to encompass protests against war, environmental destruction and human rights abuses. OWS protesters called for radical policy change and a re-hauling of the political system. At the movement's core, demonstrators affiliated with OWS claimed it was a non-violent movement, though violent actions were taken sporadically from both authoritarian figures and protestors. By the third month of the OWS movement, thousands of protesters had been arrested internationally. This body of work explores the OWS movement in New York in its entirety.

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Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement lock arms at the intersection of Exchange Place and Beaver Street in the Financial District on November 17, 2011 in New York City. Protesters attempted to shut down the New York Stock Exchange, blocking roads and tying up traffic in Lower Manhattan.